SUPERNOVA 7712 - Photoshoot & Review

[Deinonychus]

the Toys R Us exclusive set Supernova is a little bit more expensive then the other standard Exo-Force mechs ($20 US as opposed to the usual $15 US). The 287 piece count is also quite higher then the range of 164-197 pieces in those other sets, but is all this worth it for a mech of roughly the same design and dimensions?

Well, first off the pilot is Takeshi. By now we're all familiar with him...hello Takeshi! Oh no! It seems Alpha Team agent Zed has taken a fancy to your new mech and wants to take it for an extended joyride. Tough luck Takeshi! :-P

Now that that's out of the way, on to the mech itself. During the building process I got the feeling that Supernova was one of the first designs for this theme that the LEGO Builders cooked up, only to later be scrapped when the decision was made to keep the piece counts and price-points lower. The result is a mech only slightly larger and bulkier then the others, but composed of more smaller elements and with a little more assembly involved. Any hard-core builder who feels the regular Exo-Force mechs are just shy of having enough building to them in the assembly process might be a little more pleased with this set. Aside from more and smaller pieces, it builds like the other sets, but the cockpit assembly is a little sturdier and works a hell of a lot better with the light-brick gimmick.

Once finished, Supernova is basic yellow with gray and "Republic Red" tossed in for accents. You'd think a yellow and red mech would scream "McDonald's!" but it actually comes off quite well here. Articulation is fantastic with movement at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, and fingers. The radiator vanes on the back can also be positioned as you see fit. The stickers are many (as always) but in a HUGE improvement over the other sets, the instructions point out where they go as you are building the component parts instead of all at once at the end. This made putting the stickers on a lot less annoying. The translations for the Japanese writing on this one are FLAME KING for the left shin-plate, and GROUND UNIT for the left shoulder-plate.

As you can tell, the weapons are big features in this set. Supernova has the best execution of the light-brick piping gimmick yet as a forearm mounted laser, however the biggest weapon is the sword/staff. While it is a little clever in design, it's mostly an eyesore and looks pretty fragile, but the concept of a mech with a polearm weapon is still cool enough to make it mostly acceptable.

The weapons are gripped in the articulated fingers and held in place by axles that slide into technic holes in the handles. This is a very nice piece of design that allows a firm grip in the hands while not over-building them. The hand blaster is a simple piece with an effective design and, thanks to the articulated wrist, can be held numerous ways, including gangsta-style like pictured on the box :-D

As I noted before, Supernova is only slightly taller and bulkier then the other large mechs. The vanes on the back add a little more size, but in reality it should fit in quite well with the other four sets, even if you spent a little more on it.

Overall, Supernova is now my favorite of the Exo-Force sets. It's big, it's articulated out the yin-yang, and it has a couple decent weapons. Toss in a sturdy design and a fun building experience and you have yourself one fine set. I'd highly reccomend spending the extra money to get this set, odds are you won't be dissapointed. I have no trouble giving it the

Deino Stamp of Approval

[Starwars4J]

hm...I may actually get this now, curse you and your wonderful review, my wallet will never be the same :'-(

Seriously though, nice review, shows the details well

[xwingyoda]

Tks for this great Review Deinonychus ;-)

How can I pass on a set that received the Deino Stamp of Approval ;-)

I really love this Mech, I love the colour and the fact that it is a little sturdier than the others !!

The cokpit looks really great and I love the real "hands" !!

*goes and calls TRU*

*yoda*

[gerkenz]

Very nice review X-D - thanx.

One question left: is it realy a "Toys R Us exclusive" set ? Does that mean it will never be availabe at the Lego-Shop ? or elsewhere online ?

ToysRUs.com does not have it online - and .de either :-(

So where can I get this Set ?

[The Hordesman]

One question left: is it realy a "Toys R Us exclusive" set ? Does that mean it will never be availabe at the Lego-Shop ? or elsewhere online ?

Apparently, its available on the S@H but only for the US and Canada.

I will take a look if its available in stores here, but dont get your hopes up- it may be an american only set.

The review was great! Alot of detailed info and things like what the japanese letters said was very enlightening. *sweet*

[Kikuichimonji]

I love the color scheme on this. The other 'large mechs' had rather boring color schemes (but hey, I like colors like lime and orange ;-)). I've fallen in love with yellow after building my Jeopardy, and I'll definitely be picking this up for parts. So much yellow slopes *wub*

Now bring on the Hero Tank... :-P

[keetongu]

Nice review.I do say that must be the best Exo-Force set in existence. *y*

[gerkenz]

Does anyone knows the exact difference between the normal version and the special edition ?

normal Version:

- 282 pieces

- some other stickers ( "L.01", ... )

special Edition:

- 287 pieces

- what about the "L.02" sticker ? where should it be placed ?

Normal Version:

as displayed on S@H- but the set description says: 287 pieces!

[Kahgarak]

Great mech.If it comes out in The Netherlands,i'll definiatly get it.

[Deinonychus]

Does anyone knows the exact difference between the normal version and the special edition ?

normal Version:

- 282 pieces

- some other stickers ( "L.01", ... )

special Edition:

- 287 pieces

- what about the "L.02" sticker ? where should it be placed ?

Normal Version:

as displayed on S@H- but the set description says: 287 pieces!

I'm willing to bet that "normal version" is just a prototype box image. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt there'd be two products that similar with so few differences

[gerkenz]

I'm willing to bet that "normal version" is just a prototype box image. I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt there'd be two products that similar with so few differences

right - I think so, too. In fact of the little "ToysRus"-Logo above the red weapon on the left side - that could be the first version of the "special TrU"-edition.

I just called ToysRus in germany and the set will be available in summer this years :'-(

will someone get me a set and send it to me , please ? :-)

[Kikuichimonji]

Great mech.If it comes out in The Netherlands,i'll definiatly get it.

I certainly hope it will X-D

[Sir Dillon]

Nice review! I really like the look of this set, hopefully the Toys R Us near me will carry them.

Would you be able to take a picture of it next to the red mecha for me, please?

[Deinonychus]

Would you be able to take a picture of it next to the red mecha for me, please?

Sure can

And here's the rest of Alpha-Force X-D

[Sir Dillon]

Sure can

Thanks! X-D

[Starwars4J]

Did anyone else notice that between the Red mech, and this one the pilot got a set of four stars added to his right breastplate? Looks like someone got a promotion! Why else would he get such a nice mech? *wub*

I got this set after I saw your review, that's twice now! And twice I'm not disappointed ;-)

[JackRandom]

I like this one... *sweet* now I just have to find my way to Toys'R'us - eerfh...

[Zarkan]

Nice, review, Deinonychus. Now I know what I'm buying next! ;-)

I think the design really caught me, it's the first large mech to have hands! Looks like a good parts pack, too (Yellow.....).

On a side note, I'm really glad I'm back to Eurobricks. {Read my sig ;) }

[gerkenz]

finaly my Supernova arrived in germany *sweet* !

And imho it is the best Mech of all of them...

first I thought yellow is not such a god color for a mech - but with some gray bricks and the red stickers - perfect!

the hands are very well designed as mentioned before and so are the arms and legs...some bigger slopes and it looks a lot more "mechi" than the others.

Although the pilots cockpit has a very good design :)

the 6 "wings" on the back are nice, too.

*y*

[Mithrandir]

I grabbed this set yesterday after work. It was a crappy day and I felt like rewarding myself, and I noticed that this doesn't come with the Heros and Villians pack from S@H, so I bought it.

Price: It's a good price, only $20 for almost 300 bricks.

Pieces: Great piece selection for space-type stuff; mostly slopes and click hinges

Aesthetics: It's a very visually pleasing set, and once you get it posed right, it looks pretty good.

Durability: this is the only negative part of the set; it's not very durable. I really wish Lego would stop designing sets where you have to put a cone on an axle. They don't fit right and keep falling off. Furthermore, the jets on the legs keep falling off, as well as the fingers on the hands too. If anyone were to seriously play with this set (I won't), I imagine they'll be pretty darned disappointed with how it keeps falling apart... unless they are constantly blowing it up :P

I have a question about The Light Brick. It's a cool little piece, but so far I can't seem to figure out how to replace the battery. So what happens when the battery eventually dies? Is the brick now useless? Furthermore, how come all the exo force sets I've built so far don't actually attach the brick to the model, and just leave it lying loosely on something? It's braced well in the Supernova, but it was a major pain in the butt on the Sonic Phantom.

Anyway, good model, glad I bought it; I'll probably disassemble it in a month to make something better though :)

[natelite]

to replace the battery you will need to unclamp the casing. there's instruction out there which shows you how to replace the red led to blue led. if you can open the casing, you can replace the battery at the same time. i will see if i can find the link.

the combo models, mountain warrior and raging storm, use the light bricks as bricks rather than hanging by the optic fiber.

i hate all the cockpits though. the windshields do not properly seal the cockpits and leave the pilots overexposed.

edit::: found the site. click below for instruction on how to replace the led and battery.

http://www.brickmodder.net/mods/space/Exo-Mod/main.html

[KMOI]

Great review Deino! I've always admired how it's got hands, but was kinda afraid the bulked up arms might make it look like King Kong, but it seems I was wrong! it turns out it looks fantastic! I would *so* want to buy this so I could combine it with my Stealth Hunter, but at those prices, it's kinda out of my range at the moment. Besides, exams are just around the corner and I need less distractions. :P

Anyhoo, the design looks better than I thought! However, it always looked like the Akatsuki from Gundam Seed Destiny to me. Gold works for the Supernova!

[gerkenz]

t's not very durable...

...like the other Mechs, too. They all will fall apart if they will be used for "war-action" :-/

That's the difference between system and technic. I you wanna play get some Bionicles :-)

Mine are just for display and MOC-building...so for me it's perfect. ;-)

[Mithrandir]

Did anyone else notice that between the Red mech, and this one the pilot got a set of four stars added to his right breastplate? Looks like someone got a promotion! Why else would he get such a nice mech? *wub*

That's weird.

I just built my red mech last night, and he has 4 stars. It's exactly the same as the pilot from Supernova.

:\

[jamie]

i wonder if they will make a pupernova for the bad guys :-| 8-